Black Mage Cursed (Tournament of Mages Book 3) by Cleave Bourbon (top 10 best books of all time TXT) 📗

and seem like they are upstanding, but they are never able to hold on to that illusion forever. They will eventually begin showing their true colors. In fact, you can speed up the process by not falling for their charms and countering their machinations. The more they try to blend in, the more you expose them and they will crack like eggs.

“Do you know all the places these people frequent in all the big cities?”

Naturally, some of the best blood feeders come from such places. I just never used them much because, as I said, they can be difficult to control. Once you give a murderer, the tools to get away with murdering people, they tend to stop listening to you and start murdering indiscriminately.

“What do you do if that happens?”

It is a chore to rein them in, but it can be done. She swished her tail. You won’t like what I am about to say.

“Get on with it.”

They will kill and kill until they realize that the blood is the life and they are overfilling themselves. They will eventually begin to realize the thrill of killing is gone and is just a means to an end. It becomes a necessity and that curbs their want and need to kill. When it becomes less fun and more of a way to live, they lose interest and began killing only for sustenance.

“So they reach a limit? How long does that take? How many do they need to kill to realize it?”

There is the problem. Only a few reach that point because either the townsfolk have discovered them and dispatched them as vampires due to their over killing, or they kill for years before it finally seeks in if they survive long enough. I have only had two blood feeders who were murderers who survived to the point they stopped killing for fun.

“Perfect!” Thessa said. “Don’t you see, that solves my problem. I can alert the townsfolk and expose them before they can do too much damage. I can use their death to further my power and then have them eliminated.”

You forget they will be like your children. You will have a hard time bringing yourself to get rid of them.

“I won’t be killing them. The townsfolk will.”

You can’t see it’s the same thing? What about the people the blood feeder kills before the townsfolk takes an interest?

“If you do your job, they will probably go after other criminals.”

We will go later tonight.

Thessa thought about it for a moment, “No, we will leave now, but not to the bad places in Emlestra. I don’t want to stay here any longer. What is the most corrupt city you have ever visited?”

That’s easily King’s Cross.

“Yes, but that is the capital city with the king and his guards, I would rather not go there.”

There is the capital of Vestia, Talt. It’s almost as corrupt as King’s Cross. Then, once we visit there, we can go north to Ironhold. It’s an old fort city in Adendalind rumored to be a hideout for thieves with easy access to the Vesta river.

“Could you describe it to me? I think we will travel there by spell.”

Cassany will know and will probably intercept you for a meeting.

“She can do that anytime she wants. Besides, I hope she does. Maybe if she thinks I am finally going to start obeying her murderous agenda, she will stop with the likes of Tanyth Veridian. I know what she is doing. If she thinks what she is doing has worked, maybe she will be satisfied.”

Sarren stretched and yawned, all right. I am ready when you are. I would caution you to be careful manipulating a goddess, but it would do no good, would it?

“No.”

Okay, I am ready to go. There is a clearing in the trees outside of Salt on the southern side. If you take us there, we should be safe to travel into the city relatively easily. No one would even look twice at us. I would not suggest you wear your new clothes, the ones with the straps and leafy top though. We want to blend in, not give the guards reasons to chase after you with their tongues wagging.

Thessa chuckled, “Good point. She gathered her things and used the Black Mage travel spell to get them to Talt quickly.

With a whoosh of cool air, Thessa arrived in the clearing near Talt intact with her bag and Sarren close by her side. The area surrounding them was covered in thick clusters of various sized trees, bushes and shrubs. Ahead in the distance were the spires of the city of Talt, the capital city of Vestia, and their destination. The air was colder here and far less humid. A light breeze blew in from the west.

“Where should we stay here?”

The best inn for us would be the Hunter and Hound. I had you come to this clearing because I have a chest of coin nearby. We can visit it to pad our purse before we go into the city.

“You don’ have a single coin here like Emlestra?”

No, for one there is not a coin shop here and second, I would rather take coin in with us than procure it with the city walls. What happened to you in Emlestra is far more common place here. Keep your money hidden at all times and do not give any indication of the amount you have on you.

Thessa and Sarren walked the mile or so it took to get to the southern gate of Talt. The city was much different from Emlestra. Where the river port city of Emlestra was largely an open city without walls or too many guards, Talt was walled and at least a couple of miles away from the city docks on the Vesta River. The buildings were taller, and it had several towers and spires reaching up to the sky like great pointed fingers. The city was surrounded by woods, so the gates were wooden while the walls were a